Turkish Ships and Morality

Facing worldwide hypocrisy, this is a time we need to stand together.

With the recent events on the Turkish sponsored "peace flotilla," Israel has once again been tossed into another lose-lose public relations game. Had Israel refrained from acting, as the self-declared moralists of the world demanded, then Israel certainly would have won a few brownie points for good behavior. However, this momentary prize would have come at the very steep price of further strengthening Israel's regional enemies who would have interpreted inaction as another sign of Israel's declining strength. Of course by taking the initiative and acting, not surprisingly the floodgates have been opened for the very predictable condemnations.

Never mind the fact that ships smuggling weapons to various terrorist organizations is common place in this part of the world; never mind the fact that Israel repeatedly transmitted the message that any humanitarian aid could be delivered via land; never mind the fact that by hypocritically condemning Israel the world is conveying the message that Israel should do nothing and just watch as Hamas strengthens itself; never mind the fact that condemnations against Israel also show that the declared “war on terror” is bound to lose; never mind the fact that any other country in the world would not have risked the lives of its soldiers and would have just sunk the ship; never mind the fact that Israel didn't act like every other nation in the world and in doing so, unfortunately, some of its soldiers were needlessly injured; never mind these, and many other facts since the bottom line is that most of the world just doesn't care.

Anyone who possesses even a shred of honesty knows quite well that this whole event was nothing but a provocation against Israel. Therefore Israel, and the entire Jewish people with them, should not run like usual to apologize or to condemn the actions of our soldiers but rather should stand together in the face of our enemies. That people were killed is unfortunate, but Israel is certainly not responsible and in no way should we be fazed by all the hypocritical condemnations. There are threats all around us here in Israel, real dangerous threats, so this is not the time to become unraveled by acts specifically designed to unravel us.

If anyone is not convinced of the hypocrisy here, or of the fact that most of the world just doesn’t care, then perhaps we should take a look at the story of another ship that was connected to Turkey. Although long before the advent of internet and therefore less known than the current story, this maritime drama was certainly no less tragic.

Very briefly, in late 1941 nearly 800 Romanian Jews boarded an old and dilapidated ship called the Struma in an attempt to escape from Nazi Europe and make their way to Palestine. The first stop of the ship was in Istanbul, Turkey, which also turned out to be the final stop. With the British pressuring Turkey not to allow the Jews to continue on their voyage to Palestine, and Turkey refusing to allow the Jews to disembark since they didn’t possess visas for Turkey, the Jews were stuck on the overcrowded ship for nearly ten weeks while various solutions were discussed. Due to the wretched conditions on the ship, pleas were made to move the Jews to temporary transit camps that were to be completely funded by Jewish organizations. Nonetheless, the pleas fell on deaf ears with the Turks. Finally, the drama was ended when the Turks unexpectedly decided to tow the ship back into the Black Sea without fuel, food or water. Within a few hours the fate of the nearly 800 men, women and children was quickly sealed when the torpedo of a Russian submarine sunk the defenseless ship. There was only one survivor.

In the face of such lack of concern and hypocrisy, both 70 years ago and today, it’s time that the Jewish people, all of us, stand together as one against our enemies and stop being so influenced by their hypocritical condemnations and phony calls of morality.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 23

(23)
Anonymous,
June 8, 2010 6:13 PM

Islam, regretfully, according to ancient history (not personal opinion!!!!!) is an Imperialist force which as its vertical religious mosaic implies, brooks no room for alternate beliefs, and the freedom of human kind to choose - anything less than sharia.
For those of us, who find polygamy pure wickedness, and an affront to the dignity, and respect of womandhood - and manhood by association, there will be no choice.
May it never come to pass that Israel, cave in, Ever, to the mockery that these currents and intentional power-seeking individuals would foist on all communities. The world is meant to be diverse, in my opinion, and human rights should never depend on the magnanamity of any human being.
I have no doubt, in my opinion, Israel is meant to survive all of this dangerous nonsense and lack of understanding the or refusal to understand what is at stake.
It is better to insist on human rights, and the right of a Democracy to defend its citizens, than to care to "be like," by intellectual morons, and moral imbeciles; for the agnostics and atheists.
For the rest of us, Hashem and the Guardian of Israel, never sleeps, nor slumbers - the come-uppance will be devastating for those who would be gods, and or global gods-masters.
For those who still do not see - Hannah Arendt spells it out.

(22)
Anonymous,
June 8, 2010 6:10 PM

Folly

It is deeply shameful, and interesting that no attention is paid to the millions of Christians in the Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria beight murdered, and the Christian Community being torn apart - never mind the Christian Churches.
The super left-wingers and Jew-hating Right Wingers, slow-witted about everything but the ideologies and propaganda they voraciously insist upon, should realize, that other minorities are next in line to endure the same decimation of their Communities.
For those who insist on Freedom of Worship, amongst other freedoms, their is slavery, slaughter, coercion to islam and Dhimmitude - a term North Americans should become Profoundly familiar with.
In North America, apparently, an Islamic organization is intending to build a "Museum," dedicated to Islam (!!!)
A sign of things to come, If I were a part of the gay-lesbian community, I would also be Very worrried - Islam does not accept that Gay men and women, have the right to live, under sharia law. As well, restorative justice and mercy, is left for the "after-life," and everyone is at the mercy of Holy men, whose true nature is a rigourous application of Sharia Law in all aspects of life.

(21)
Anonymous,
June 8, 2010 6:08 PM

The Moral and Ethical Vacuity of Liars

Israel has a duty to protect its land, its borders, its citizens, and exercise that Legal right, Moral Imperative, and the comprehensive Ethical requirements as the solitary Liberal Democracy in the Middle East.
Europeans lack any and all moral substance, authority, and relevance, when it comes to the survival of Am Yisroel, and Israel Proper. Israel is not, never has been Arab Territory.

(20)
Anonymous,
June 8, 2010 12:30 PM

"Had Israel refrained from acting, then Israel certainly would have gotten a few brownie points for good behavior..." um, NO. How many times in the past has Israel "behaved" (refrained from retailiating when shelled by Iraq, and from pre-emptively attacking prior to the Yom Kippur War, pulling out of Gaza unilaterally)? Such behavior only leads to Jewish deaths. No brownie points ever.

(19)
jack piotrkowski,
June 7, 2010 8:11 PM

turkey are acting like a turkey

The turkey has the smallest brain and not very bright. Do not let the simularty in names, between the bird and country to be shown by its country.

(18)
Jules Tabak,
June 7, 2010 2:47 PM

Turkish hutzpa

Turkey condemning Israe for immoral acts!!???
After what they did to the Armenians. But don't get me wrong. I have no love for the Armenians. I have heard their antisemitic blasts
Jules

(17)
mutua,
June 7, 2010 12:41 PM

RESPECT/RESPONSIBILITY

I wonder why some of the world nations are irresponsible and against each other.
Life is precious even more than gold , respect and self responsibility is key to life in one way or the other.
Every being should repect life and be responsible the way jews do. If you know taht you have an enemy you should be vigilant and ell equiped to overwhelm him /her therefore israel had tjhe wright to defend it self by not allowing flotilla in to the gaza area. secondly she is trying to make the world asafer place by not allowing terrolists to rule the entire middle east.
So let every one respect each other and behis or her brothers keeper in order to live apeaceful life.

(16)
,
June 7, 2010 11:35 AM

Please don`t give up your ligitimacy.

Israel should ignore the antics of Turkey and the Arab countries.35 years after Turkey invaded Cyprus no Arab or muslim country has condemned the act.

(15)
Anonymous,
June 7, 2010 5:16 AM

slaying the source

comment #, you speak of slaying the source. The source is our sins. As #2 says, we have one supporter. The ultimate outcome will be redemption as recorded by our prophets, but if we want to be redeemed in a less vicious way, we must check out what G-d wants us to do to fulfill the purpose of our creation through the study and practice of Torah and mitzvot.
Ruth, the world is anything but indifferent; most people either love us and see us as G-d's chosen people or they hate us with venom. The latter are the most vocal ones and their purpose in G-d's plan is to remind us who we are, why we are G-d's chosen nation and what that means in terms of how we live.

(14)
Anonymous,
June 6, 2010 11:53 PM

What a stupid article

the idea that Turkey did not support Jews during WWII based on this one ship incident is particularly misguided. Virtually no countries would let such ships in, such as the United States, and Turkey, as the article admits, was cowed by the British not to help these people. While sad, it certainly does not suggest that Turkey or today or Turks in general are anti-Jew.
The saddest thing of all is that the misguided efforts of the Israelis played right into the hands of the AKP - pushing Turkey and Turks away from Israel.

(13)
alex,
June 6, 2010 10:32 PM

did world forgat the holocast of armenian people by turkey

(12)
Carin Staines,
June 6, 2010 10:31 PM

Armenian massacre

Who was responsible for the Armemian massacre of 1915? TURKEY.
Turkey has a history of massacres, Armemians, Kurds,
If it was true humanatarian aid, why did they not submit peacefully.? Weapons, world journalists, etc. The whole thing was a setup.
By the way, what was the so called humanatarian aid? Has this list of aid been published. I am just curious.

(11)
My Opinion,
June 6, 2010 8:16 PM

Let the Turks worry about terrorism and human rights in their own country

Now the Turks have to play the role of the Muslim super power, (taking advantage of the generalised crisis in Europe and the USA). Which could be an easier target than Israel? A nation of democratic and hard working people, busy trying to preserve their right to live free in their own country. If the Turks have suddenly gone so sensitive about the exertion of military force against any enemy of the state, let them tell the world why they have been causing genocides (the Greeks of the Black Sea, the Armenians and the Kurds to mention a few), they STILL have no interpretation for the meaning of 'Human Rights' in their political and legal system, and could not possibly play any other role in the international politics scene, than that of the local bully. Tully, any 'Democratic, Peaceful Flotilla' from the likes of Turks is a utopia and something that is bound to cause great anxiety and distress to its destination (remember how they 'liberated' Cyprus from the evil Greeks in 1974). One can imagine what type of 'help' and 'supplies' were inside the Turkish ships. I say well done Israel for defending yourself. The Turks should have known better.

(10)
elisheva,
June 6, 2010 7:53 PM

together

Why can't we unite and protest all over the world like the muslims do? Why do we retreat, stay home and watch THEM spill there hatred and nonsense on tv? Lets organize a global protest but a dignified one, like WE always do. I'll be there rain or shine.

(9)
Independent,
June 6, 2010 6:18 PM

Never again

It is not just Jews who support Israel's right to defend itself.

(8)
joe ozer,
June 6, 2010 6:14 PM

Turkish Hypocrisy

It is hypocritical of turkey to criticize Israel for using military force to defend itself. The Turks were tougher on the Kurds and the Kurdish PKK than Israel has ever been on Hamas or any other Palestinian organization.

(7)
Lee,
June 6, 2010 5:12 PM

Heads, indeed

Most people would agree that self-defense is a human right, too. Except as applicable to Jews. We should just take it on the chin when someone wants to slice off our heads, so as to avoid any escalation in violence (i.e. Islamic extremism) in the world. Like laying down on their swords should be an option, or would even stop further violence.

(6)
dovid,
June 6, 2010 3:35 PM

Why was the world outraged at Israel?

Why was the world outraged at Israel? It was not the images of Jews being savagely clubbed that caused the outrage. For 2000 years, such images have been as generic and predictable as the sun rising at the east. The outrage was caused by the finale of the incident: Jews fighting back the savages and even killing them. Europe and the Muslim world found that too hard to stomach and caused them severe indigestion. Hillary, sleazy Hillary predictably joined the choir of our enemies demanding that we be goldstoned again.

(5)
ruth housman,
June 6, 2010 2:43 PM

Sadness Descends

I have been reading all these reasoned and truly in depth comments about what happened, about the Flotilla and I have been heart sick, because YES, there is so much humanity in what the Israelis just did, and the way the world has greeted such humanity has been to turn truth into lies. Absolute lies.
It seems life has this propensity to truly break hearts, meaning something of humanity, as in what the Israelis did, was about tikkun olam, and what happened was that the hearts of those who boarded that ship, in good faith, well they were broken, by what happened, not aggression on the part of the Israelis, but the clubbing, and need for self defense they encountered, namely violence NOT of their choosing.
There are many ways to break hearts, and what's heart breaking in terms of how we feel in sadness, for loss of lives, and how others wantonly "break" hearts, by murdering what's good and what's well intentioned, well this is a story the world should interpret in a different way. And it's an indifferent world that turns on the Jews, and makes this "our fault".

(4)
Yonah,
June 6, 2010 1:46 PM

Wow wow, ..time for us to focus on caring for each other, cause there's a lot of hate out there.

(3)
Irwin Ruff,
June 6, 2010 1:37 PM

The entire world is against us

It is long past time for us to face facts: with a few exceptions, the entire 70 nations of the world are against us. But we are not completely isolated; we still have one supporter. The only reason a small people like the Jews have survived for over 3000 years is because of the support of Hashem. We may be getting close to the time of Mashiach, but we still must do our part. ALL the Jews must learn that Israel is NOT to be just another copy of the licentious nations of the world. There are plenty of nations who exemplify immorality and corruption. Israel, however, is to observe the mitzvos of Hashem and to be known as the people of Hashem. We are to be separated from the nations, not copies of them, as the secular socialists maintain..We will be aided in any case, but perhaps if we are truly observant, our redemption will be faster and easier.

(2)
Jewell,
June 3, 2010 1:39 PM

Well said!!

Very good article!!

(1)
Anonymous,
June 3, 2010 1:24 PM

Time to work on diplomacy

Great article. Maybe it is time to work on some diplomacy as far as Turkey is concerned. It has wanted to be a part of the EU for a long time. Let us make sure that it never gets in. Any country which initiates such instability in its own backyard does not belong in the EU. It cannot be trusted. Israel should do everything it can through its allies in Europe to ensure that Turkey never gets in. I am sure there are other diplomatic events on the burner that are pressing when it comes to Turkey.
This whole situation reminds me of the Greek myth of Hydra. As soon as one head is cut of then another grows back on. In the same way that there is no shortage of heads, in the same way there is no shortage of warheads and other weapons. Maybe it is time to go to the source and slay the source.

I was born with a neuromuscular disease known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy and have been confined to a wheelchair my entire life. Unfortunately my sister and I were raised without any religious instruction or guidance. My father wasn't Jewish and although my mother is, she openly claims to be an atheist. The "good news" is that both my sister and myself - independent of each other and at different times in our lives - realized that we are Jewish and chose to live a Jewish life.

Because of my disability, I'm not always able to attend services on Shabbat, but I always light candles, pray from a Siddur and read the weekly Torah portion. I would like to know whether, considering my situation, if using a computer is allowed during the Sabbath? I found the complete Bible online and since my computer is voice-activated I don't have to struggle to turn pages or continuously ask for assistance.

Thank you to everyone at Aish.com for making it possible for myself and so many others to learn about being Jewish and grow in the most important part of our lives.

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Thank you so much for your encouraging words and for sharing your inspiring story.

God gives each of us a set of challenges. To those more capable of conquering difficulties, He gave bigger challenges. A challenge from God is a sign that He cares about us and has confidence in our ability to become great.

It sounds like you're doing great!

As for using the computer on Shabbat, that is prohibited. A foundation of Judaism is that we need to respect God's wishes, even if we think that doing otherwise is "for a good reason." Consider this story:

A king calls in his trusted minister and says: "I have an important mission for you to perform. Go to the neighboring kingdom and meet in the palace with their leaders. But remember one thing - under no circumstances must you remove your shirt during this meeting. Now go and do as I say."

The minister sets off on his merry way and soon arrives at the neighboring kingdom. There he heads straight for the palace where he meets with the King. In the midst of their discussion, he sees some of the king's officers pointing and laughing at him.

"Why are you laughing?" asks the visiting minister.

"Because we've never seen someone with such a pronounced hunchback as yourself," they say.

"What are you talking about? I'm not a hunchback!"

"Of course you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"We'll bet you one million dollars that you are!"

"Fine - I'll gladly take your bet."

"Okay, so take off your shirt and prove it."

At which point the minister remembers the parting words of the king... "under no circumstances must you remove your shirt during the meeting." Yet, the minister reasons, a million dollars would certainly bring added wealth to the king's coffers. I know I'm not a hunchback, so I'll surely win the bet. Of course, under these circumstances the king would approve...

The minister removes his shirt and proudly displays his perfect posture. With pride in his achievement, he holds out his hand, into which is placed a check for one million dollars.

The minister can barely contain his excitement. He quickly ends the meeting and runs back to give the wonderful news to his king. "I earned you a million dollars!" exclaims the minister. "It was easy. I only had to remove my shirt to prove that I wasn't a hunchback."

"You did what?!" shouts the king. "But I told you specifically not to remove your shirt. I trusted that you'd follow instructions, and so I bet the other king $10 million dollars that he couldn't get you to remove your shirt!"

The Torah tells us "Do not add or subtract from the mitzvahs." (Deut. 4:2) Jewish law is a precise metaphysical science. Consider a great work of art. Would you consider adding a few notes to a Bach fugue, or some brushstrokes to a Rembrandt portrait?!

Perfection, by definition, cannot be improved upon. Altering Torah law is an unacceptable implication that God is lacking.

The verse in Psalms 19:8 declares: "Torat Hashem Temimah" - the Torah of God is complete. For just as adding one wire to a transistor radio means it no longer can pick up reception, so too we mustn't tinker with Jewish law. The mitzvahs of God are perfect.

May the Almighty give you strength to continue your growth in Judaism.

In 1315, King Louis X of France called back the Jews who had been expelled a few decades earlier by King Louis IX. This marked a theme in Jewish-French life: expulsions and subsequent invitations to return. The French monarchy was trying to establish their land as the "new Jerusalem," and to fulfill this mission attempted several crusades to Israel. In 1615, King Louis XIII ordered that Christians were forbidden to speak with Jews, upon penalty of death. Eventually, in 1683, King Louis XIV expelled the Jews from the colony of Martinique.

When you experience joy, you feel good because your magnificent brain produces hormones called endorphins. These self-produced chemicals give you happy and joyful feelings.

Research on these biochemicals has proven that the brain-produced hormones enter your blood stream even if you just act joyful, not only when you really are happy. Although the joyful experience is totally imaginary and you know that it didn’t actually happen, when you speak and act as if that imaginary experience did happen, you get a dose of endorphins.

These chemicals are naturally produced by your brain. They are totally free and entirely healthy.

Many people find that this knowledge inspires them to create more joyful moments. It’s not just an abstract idea, but a physical reality.

There is no person on earth so righteous, who does only good and does not sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20).

Reading the suggestions for ridding oneself of character defects, someone might say, "These are all very helpful for someone who has character defects, but I do not see anything about myself that is defective."

In the above-cited verse, Solomon states what we should all know: no one is perfect. People who cannot easily find imperfections within themselves must have a perception so grossly distorted that they may not even be aware of major defects. By analogy, if a person cannot hear anything, it is not that the whole world has become absolutely silent, but that he or she has lost all sense of hearing and may thus not be able to hear even the loudest thunder.

In his monumental work, Duties of the Heart, Rabbeinu Bachaye quotes a wise man who told his disciples, "If you do not find defects within yourself, I am afraid you have the greatest defect of all: vanity." In other words, people who see everything from an "I am great/right" perspective will of course believe that they do no wrong.

When people can see no faults in themselves, it is generally because they feel so inadequate that the awareness of any personal defects would be devastating. Ironically, vanity is a defense against low self-esteem. If we accept ourselves as fallible human beings and also have a sense of self-worth, we can become even better than we are.

Today I shall...

be aware that if I do not find things within myself to correct, it may be because I am threatened by such discoveries.

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